Hmmm, I have a debt with Sainsburys but bank with the Halifax which as I understand has merged with B of S. Where does that leave me.

A few years back, I had arrears of council tax and was ordered to pay via the courts. One morning, I was sat in the house when I heard the letter box clack and assumed it was the postman so didnt go rushing through. 10 minutes later, picked up the post to see a note from the bailiffs saying they had called to try to collect but no-one was in so they would call again but you have been charged x pounds etc. I was fuming because no-one had knocked at the door yet this letter said they had. I went down to my brothers house a couple of streets away and took the letter to show him and while we were looking, would you believe it, the same happened to him. No knock, just a letter. We both looked out in the street and saw 1 man calling at different addresses and decided to confront him. Asked him if he had delivered the letters and he said yes. Asked why he hadnt knocked and why did the letter say he had. He looked a bit sheepish and told us he was told to deliver abunch of letters and that was it. Straight on to Bailiff company to complain...no joy. Straight on to Council who initially insisted that it was out of thier hands. I pointed out they had employed a company which had effectively committed mass fraud and by refusing to do anything about it, they were parties to it too. A short exchange of "its too late now" followed by " accept the money, less charges or else I will report this" ended up with the Council taking back the debt and accepting payment there and then over the phone via debit card. Slightly different to your situation but my first challenge to authority that i won. It can be done, just dont back down easily.

Didnt where to put this as its not really related to charges or a default but its got my back up. I have a Halifax Platinum Card which has a balance of around £4500 on it. It was OK for a good while but then my interest rate was increased from 15% to 20% for no apparent reason. I responded by cancelling my PPI. 6 months later, another letter and this time the rate has been increased to 25%. Problem I have is that I have a mortgage and bank account with them into which my salary is paid plus a couple of years ago got into financial problems which resulted in a few defaults. I would love to be able to try and negotiate a lower payment but they wont entertain that and after my experiences with the TSB, dare not just start paying reduced amounts. The TSB not only refused to lower payments on a loan and card I had, but proceeded to take the money out of my account I had with them compounding my woes even further and effectively catapulting me deeper into the mess I am in now. (They are now one of my creditors for around £8000) Had they not done that, I might have been in a position to slowly dig myself out of the hole in time but thier actions effectively filled it in on top of me. I cannot afford to have the Halifax do that and effectively plunge me even deeper with further people such as Gas, Electric, Council Tax etc. Obviously if I end up with some sort of agreement amongst my other creditors, they are not going to be best pleased to find a large wodge of my cash going to the Halifax instead of being distributed more equitably. Any suggestions as to how I might be able to lessen the burden or get them to change thier minds.

Are the Police involved in this, they should be and if not, I would imagine the DCa's would assume some connivance or part responsibility. Legally as long as you didnt sign that application, the debt is not yours. The hard part is going to be proving it after all this time if no criminal investigation has taken place.

So, can you still send a CCA after a CCJ has been issued and are the DCA obliged to answer it or can they refuse on the grounds the debt has been proven? Might need to utilise this one myself shortly.

CAB directed me to a solicitor who charged me £10 for an interview and advice. Went back to CAB who helped me draft some letters asking for proof of my tenancy for the period stated and thier proof that I had not handed back the keys as I said. They couldnt do either so it was end of story.

I think you need to see the CAB or perhaps a fixed fee interview with a solicitor. I had a long running dispute with the council over unpaid garage rent, I cancelled, they said not, it took the CAB and a visit to solicitor to get them off my back. Long and short was they couldnt prove how I owed the money so had to back off.

ICO, got this from the Uk Insolvency help page. Suits both our situations should we need to do the set asides. The ones in red could provide reasons for me to have it set aside, particularly the first one. This little paragraph at the bottom is also very usefull to note.

Gingerheid. I am assuming this is a CCJ, remember I have not seen these letters or thier contents. What my intention in setting aside the judgement would be, is to send a CCA request and take it from there. Grounds would be that I was unaware of summons since I was not resident at the address when letters were sent. I would become aware of judgement once credit file check has been performed in around say 5 or 6 months time. I am just concerned in case they take it further unbeknown to me in the meantime. There must be around £2000 charges or something added to this debt since my last payment to the original creditor and that is the bone of contention with me. Lowell have not been easy to speak to, being threatening right from day one. (I have never admitted liability to them at any time) Lowell cant have done thier sums or homework very well if they are contemplating bankruptcy as my total liabilities are in excess of £30,000. I would sooner give up fighting solicitors and sign my entire house over to my seperated wife although even if this is not done, the equity would be insufficient to give any sort of payoff to Lowells. I suppose I would rather avoid bankruptcy if possible with all its attendant hassles, my goal would be to get the judgement set aside, CCA Lowells after the set aside and take things from there by either getting rid of the charges and coming to some arrangement or a re-hearing and make an offer which would be low and unlikely to satisfy Lowell. Whatever the result, I am no spring chicken and dont have enough working years left to start afresh after a bankruptcy, similarly, a monthly payment would have to last beyond my retirement as I could never afford to pay off everything I owe during the rest of my working life unless of course I ditch my current partner and kids and live in a caravan. I cannot get an IVA either because I cannot make the monthly payment required of around £250 I am led to believe. See my problem now....

Not wishing to post in another thread and possibly cause confusion, what would be the options in this scenario. Court summons arrives at my old address and is returned marked "Not at this address" Some 2 weeks later, result of court action from company that issued summons (possibly, but exact contents unknown as it was returned unopened) Since this company has such a bad press, Lowell, and assuming that the communication was CCJ paperwork what would be thier next move. What I am ultimately concerned about is if they petition for bankruptcy without me knowing, ie, a SD issued to my old address but once again returned unopened and marked as "Not at this address" I would add that the first contact I ever had with this company was very hostile and over the phone and at no point have I admitted owing the money nor have I made any contact other than via telephone when they contacted me at work and I refused to speak to them. Occupant of address to which the paperwork was sent is my ex partner and she returns all mail as unknown but tells me there has been mail. I will not acknowledge this fact to anyone though so as far as DCas, Courts etc, I have no knowledge of these letters. If I am subject to bankruptcy proceedings, would I be able to challenge if these are done in my absence without my knowledge. I am thinking along the lines of the CCJ is unbeknown to me so could I apply to have it set aside thus removing the reason for the bankruptcy proceedings. All this is conjecture as I dont know anything for sure yet, just trying to think ahead, 'just in case'.

I applied online for a credit report using my brothers address as I was staying there at the time. Around 8 weeks later, letters from creditors started arriving there so I would be very cautious about doing that again.

Where does that leave me with the CCJ though. At present, there is no proof of service so if i do get caught up with a bankruptcy case based on non payment of this judgement, could i not petition for a set aside of the original judgement on grounds of not receiving any paperwork and so rendering the bankruptcy request null. If I CCA them, it gives them my whereabouts which is the last thing I want at present.

This is so much like my situation. Again rightly or wrongly, I buried my head in the sand as I just could not meet the demands of creditors. I too am seperated but not divorced and my mail has been going to my old home where my wife has been returning it as "not at this address" A while ago, Lowells rang my mother to ask if my home address was still the same and could I be contacted there as they had some letters for me. Knowing I still pick my kids up she said yes. The next thing I know there is a County Court Summons (obvious from the blue colouring of the forms inside and the return address) which was duly returned "not at this address". 2 weeks later, another letter from lowell which I am assuming was the judgement which again was returned by my wife unopened. My total unsecured debts amount to around £33,000 and I earn £27,000 a year although after bills and maintenance have been paid, I am always scraping at the end of the month. I just cannot meet the demands and I am worried in case lowell go down the bankruptcy road with me as the family home is in my name only although I am not residing there. There is equity in it but not enough and besides which, my wife will want her share when we get divorced. What are my options.